Destiny?

Maybe it is that I didn't get into HYS, LSM for Penn, and only got a half-ride at USC... Even with Vagelos Scholars at Penn, and UChicago/Duke/other schools, it's almost like my mind has been made up for me. I know for a fact my parents want me to go to Princeton. I'm sure I'd like it there too, but I'm just sort of concerned about the culture there, and grade deflation...

Does fate think I can survive?

Celebrity Status?

I went to thank Patrick today and schedule my April meeting to submit my SIR (most likely to Princeton). I ended up eating a crapton of food - chips, candy, lemonade, etc - and getting interviewed. Did I mention said interview might be on TV? Oh, and I got a $20 gift card to iTunes too. I felt special. xD

College Admissions Final!

UC Berkeley/LA/SD (Accepted with Regents x3)
USC (Accepted w/ half ride)
University of Chicago (Accepted with 10k per year)
Caltech (Accepted)
MIT (Waitlisted)
Harvard (Rejected)
Princeton (Accepted with 23k financial aid)
Yale (Rejected)
Columbia (Waitlisted)
University of Pennsylvania (Accepted)
Rice (Accepted)
Duke (Accepted)
Stanford (Rejected)

Alas, that final rejection from Stanford... Tommy and Davy got in though - super proud of both of them! They definitely deserved it!

Ash, well as of now, I guess it looks like I'm off to Princeton. =] Visiting Duke April 9-10, Chicago 19-20, and Princeton 26-28!

College Admissions #3!

UC Berkeley/LA/SD (Accepted with Regents x3)
USC (Accepted w/ likely scholarship)
University of Chicago (Accepted with 10k per year)
Caltech (Accepted)
MIT (Waitlisted)
Harvard (Rejected)
Princeton (Accepted with 23k financial aid)
Yale (Rejected)
Columbia (Waitlisted)
University of Pennsylvania (Accepted)
Rice (Accepted)
Duke (Accepted)
Stanford (TBA)

Two rejections today - Harvard and Yale. Figures. Yale rejected me first! xD Would have been nice to get into one of them, but alas, 'tis not to be. Hell, whatever, got into Princeton, which was a real shocker... Pretty insane.

Berkeley apparently rejected a ton of people this year - I definitely think people who should have gotten in didn't... Ridiculous.

Duke prefrosh ftw! Heading over with Ross during spring break! xD

Stanford in a few days, whenever they decide to release decisions. If I get in, I'll be insanely happy. Preparing myself for one final rejection though...

Just a Thought

It's really amazingly nice to have a hobby. I love reading, and hanging out with friends, and surfing the web just like any other person, but I think my one true hobby is pillow-making. Or pillow decorating. I love it so much that I think about what else I can do that's related to it, since I'm not going to give people multiple pillows.

I was thinking mini pillows with college logos, once we all figure out where we're going, but I feel like keychains would be more appropriate. But I'll have to find somewhere to get the chains...

I think I just like making things in general. It keeps me busy and I can actually see a concrete product. I think that's part of the reason why I like projects so much - posters and the like. Why I made a Styrofoam cannon for my Civil War project and worked so hard on my history notebook. Ceramics. The Trojan horse made out of cardboard for the myth project.

And when my love of making things is combined with my love of giving things to people and making them happy, and myself happy, it just makes it even better.

I'm wanting about 10 different foods right now...

Pancakes, Chipotle burrito bowls, In-n-Out, froyo, parfaits, rigatoni/tortellini/ravioli/pasta in general, fries, tapioca pudding, Korean bbq, hot pot, hash browns, sushi... The list goes "on"nomnom.

My Future Shall Be Decided

In about 13 hours. Maybe a few more. But not really. Tbh, I'll probably get a good education regardless of where I go, as long as I try. And for someone anticipating many more years of schooling (a PhD, at least a Master's), undergrad really doesn't seem to matter that much. I've also gotten into pretty good schools already. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be freaking out tomorrow. =P

But hey, if they don't want me, their loss, right?

Frustrated.

Hectic

It's not actually going to start getting busy until Thursday, when college decisions come out. That's when I'll find the motivation to do all of these scholarships that ask where I'm going for college. So decisions, scholarships... I need to start/finish Wuthering Heights sometime... And make a visit to Patrick on Saturday. And make shirts for Robotics, provided Peter gets the papers to me in time. Oh dear.

Pancakes and boba sound REALLY good right now...

College Admissions #2!

Before the whole slew of them comes out on Thursday. xD

UC Berkeley/LA/SD (Accepted x3, Regents at SD/LA, Berkeley TBA)
USC (Accepted w/ likely scholarship)
University of Chicago (Accepted with 10k per year)
Caltech (Accepted)
MIT (Waitlisted)
Harvard (TBA)
Princeton (TBA)
Yale (TBA)
Columbia (TBA)
University of Pennsylvania (TBA)
Rice (Accepted)
Duke (TBA)
Stanford (TBA)

Thursday shall be fun. Have to prepare myself for those rejections...

College Update

Got into Rice, and UCLA Regents.

Next week is going to be hellish. Seven decisions in one day, and about five scholarship apps to completely before then and Sunday because I need to know which colleges I've gotten into/one I'm going to for the application. Not to mention I need to read Wuthering Heights. Or 1984. Or something for the lit profile...

I have a little sinking feeling...

The Hunger Games - Done!

Read the first 2 chapters online via previews, the next 19 during Chinese school since Kevin brought it, and finished it on my sister's Kindle. Took a total of about 3 hours. xD They aren't really anything special in terms of writing, but the story is REALLY captivating. It's horrible, since it's about children murdering each other, but it really sucks you in... I have to watch the movies sometime now...

Stay Strong. =]

Two Things

That I want. TONS of food and a copy of The Hunger Games. xD

The Hunger Games

Quite a few of my friends are probably currently at the theater waiting for the midnight premiere. xD I really want to watch the movie, but I also want to read the book first. Which technically shouldn't take that long, but I have so much to do... Maybe I'll see if the library or something has it, but sort of doubting it; given the hype right now, I sure they're all checked out. =P Ah well, we'll see. I can always wait until later.

Thwarted Again!

I love how whenever I actually have motivation to do my homework, there's something else in the way... I was so pumped and ready to do gov notes yesterday... But she hadn't posted them yet. I was all prepared to do all of my APES homework today. But that too, hasn't been posted, and I never copied it down in class. (As for lit, I just don't like critiques... xD)

Most epic fail in calc today... Note to self: Sequences are not series... =P

I'm super happy lately. Tired, sort of longing for the past (been reading my old blog posts), thinking about friends I've lost touch with and stuff... Normally this would all just made me sort of pensive and sad, but I've still been pretty happy lately - some of you can guess why. xD

Some of my old blog posts have a lot of anger in them... Lots of anger and emotion. It's pretty surprising since I didn't think I was that affected by the things that happened, but apparently I was. I guess this goes to show the whole "It won't matter in ten years" philosophy/outlook though. I've been able to read about some cute little moments I had totally forgotten about though... I'm so glad I kept this blog. =]

Ah well, I guess I'll just go sleep since there's not much else to do.

Naviance Scattergrams

I almost feel bad, because you can TOTALLY tell which point on any graph is me, provided I applied to the school... I feel like it's going to freak people out if I end up having to update that I got rejected from somewhere.

Also a funny note, most people definitely aren't updating Naviance... Definitely more people applied to the UCs than it says up there. xD So most of the scores up there are of the people that do well in school, so the average GPAs of people getting into school is ridiculously high...

I love how just thinking about you can make me smile.

I'm also reading my old blog posts and I'm completely amazed at how far back this might have started... I don't think I even realized it...

Slacking Off...?

I really have no idea what's going on. In pretty much every class except calc, I've sort of been winging tests and stuff (the C on my last econ test should say something), and not really putting as much effort into homework/whatnot as usual... But my grades are pretty much as good as first semester... If they're lower, it's only by a percent or fraction of. It's rather confusing. Does this count as slacking off? xD Whatever, I'm not complaining. I can concentrate my efforts on calc then (bleurgh x.x).

=]

My heart's beating ridiculously fast right now. It's going to take a while to fall asleep tonight...

I sincerely never thought this would ever happen. Ever since... I can't even remember when. xD If nothing else, this is what's going to make my senior year the best, and one to remember.

It's almost like an addiction...

College Admissions! (UC Edition!)

I'm so proud of everyone for getting in to Davis and SD (and LA and Berkeley when they come out ;D)! It's just so awesome to see people getting into their dream schools, or even just relaxing because they know they have somewhere to go... I definitely remember getting that first acceptance from Caltech... Apart from it being Caltech, it was more of a "I have somewhere to go!" mindset. Anyways, it makes me happy to see all of these acceptances statuses. =]

And for those of you that care... Personal tally!

UC Berkeley/LA/SD (Accepted x3, Regents at SD, LA/Berkeley TBA)
USC (Accepted w/ likely scholarship)
University of Chicago (Accepted with 10k per year)
Caltech (Accepted)
MIT (Waitlisted)
Harvard (TBA)
Princeton (TBA)
Yale (TBA)
Columbia (TBA)
University of Pennsylvania (TBA)
Rice (TBA)
Duke (TBA)
Stanford (TBA)

Yum.

Dragonfruit ice cream? I want to try this!

Super big smiley face.

Guess Who Got Into MIT?! (Not Me!)

Yay for waitlisting! Ah well, whatever. At least it's not a flat-out rejection, though it pretty much is. =P Life will go on. And we'll see how the rest of the college decisions go. =]

Edit - I got a nice, personal call from UC San Diego though! Got admitted there with Regents! xD

♥

You're a horrible person.

If Only...

I could go back to those few hours on Saturday... You really confuse me sometimes - I have no idea what you're thinking. Though if I did, I guess this wouldn't have that much meaning, would it?

You make me happy.

So I guess the answer the question I've been asking myself is yes.

Clarie, you make fun of me, you die. xP

Have Done List for 3/9/12

~ Successfully roll up and pack a sleeping bag on the first try
~ Make a USC-branded waffle
~ Find my way around the USC campus alone
~ Try pretty much every flavor of lemonade at Lemonade
~ Buy a blood orange lemonade (watermelon rosemary came close!)
~ Ace an interview by talking about not taking AP Physics
~ Completely miss an apparently really good lunch due to said interview
~ Eat at CPK instead!
~ Get hit on by a USC sophomore
~ Relax in the sun by the fountain
~ Chill at LAX with Alan and Justin with Starbucks
~ Discover seat-to-seat messaging on the plane with Alan
~ Take BART back to Dublin from SFO
~ Help 4 different people find their destinations on BART
~ Meet an awesome biker dude with a tattoo on said BART

First Day of Explore USC!

It's been pretty awesome - it's completely GORGEOUS here. Met some awesome people, had some awesome food. xD

Took the plane over, got on the shuttle (almost missed it xD) and headed on over. Met Justin and Alan on the shuttle - we checked in together and met some other people at check-in. Justin knew them (Kirsti, Jordeen, and Omar) already though, so maybe that doesn't count. xD Played some pool and went on a walking tour.

Lunch at Seeds Market (pretty yummy stuff) then visited the bookstore for funsies, then took the bus tour. =P

The Welcome Session was freaking awesome - the marching band came in and played! The Academic Sessions were lame though... Ah well, win some, lose some. I totally random just started talking to a guy named Nathan cuz he seemed alone. =P

Met my host - Ran (awesome name! =]). Went and got dinner then chilled for a bit, made s'mores with the majority of the Explorers. Also met a guy named Bill cuz he needed change for a ten. But anyways... S'MORES. YUM. I ate like 5 s'mores and another 15 marshmallows. Not even joking...

Back in the dorm (apartment actually) now, prob going to chill online for a bit. Interview tomorrow and prob just chilling with some friends - cold always sit in on a lectures but nothing seems too interesting or relevant to what I want to do, so... Fun day though! =]

Edit - Ran and I are slightly scarily alike. We both declared chemistry with a planned emphasis in nanoscience. I'm thinking about a double major or a minor in economics, and she switched from chem to econ. We both dislike physics for no particular reason, are from the Bay Area, like our marshmallows burnt, and have the same toothbrush. xD

Off to LA Tomorrow!

Sadly, it's not for Disneyland or to visit Beverly Hills... But hey, a USC interview is close enough right? Time for some college parties! (lol jaykay) But it should be fun just walking around and learning about stuff. Visiting the surrounding area, making some new friends... The interview will probably be a bit stressful, but hey.

I just hope I don't get lost...

Anyways, schedule is something like... Wake up at 4:30am (x.x), leave for SF at 5am, arrive around 6am. Leave SF Airport at like 7am, arrive at LAX at 8:20am. Shuttle ride to USC, check in, lunch, tons of random stuff and chilling with my student host. Sleep. Wake up around 7:30am, breakfast, interviews, lunch. Chill from 1-3pm (hopefully I can find some people to hang with), 3pm shuttle to LAX, 5:40pm flight, arrive in SF around 7pm, get home around 8pm. Fun. xD

*****

On another note, 92% on that super crappy calc test I swore I failed. No idea how that happened, but I'll take it. xP

Would I go to ball with him? Hm. Probably. But that brings up some interesting questions...

This might really be happening. Hm...

Absolutely Amazing =]

I had the best day in a while today. =] I love how I had random scattered plans and they just sort of meshed and stuff. xD

So I woke up at like 10, just lounged in bed until 12 because I could. Got up, ate some food, looked at and decided to ignore homework (which I have a quite a bit to finish tomorrow, but whatever) until Clarie came over.

Went to the mall around 1-ish for free pretzels at Auntie Anne's! =] Arton came too, he was pretty chill though we totally got him to believe that we were sisters... I'm not sure if he still thinks Ross and I are siblings, but meh. xD So that was pretty chill - we walked around the mall a lot and just sort of hung out.

Went bowling - I completely owned the first game and sort of epically failed the second. But lots of laughs and a little upping of competition. ;D

Pool in downtown Pleasanton was pretty damn awesome too ($1 a game!) - Ross joined us and we had him and me vs. Clarie and Arton. We won 2 v 3! But both games we won because Arton sank the 8-ball into the wrong pocket. xD Ah well, I'll take it, aha.

Headed off to Hacienda, had some pretty delish burgers at Five Guys and talked about random crap. Arton and Clarie both had to leave after though, so they didn't catch The Artist with Ross and me. Silent film, but super good - it was funny and just a pretty good movie in general.

Chilled at Ross's for like, another 5 hours, watching Blair Witch Project and the Titanic (which comes out in 3D April!).

The most unproductive day ever, but also super fun and definitely a day to remember. I'm super ridiculously happy right now. =]

Tony Huang

So awesome I'm just going to title a post as a tribute to him. Impromptu songs on guitar with accompanying lyrics = amazing.

Karishma's party was totally awesome - Just Dance, Ten Fingers, random singing, etc. It was a great pick-me-up after that godawful calc test earlier today. Anyways, great start to a (hopefully) awesome weekend!

A Scent of Nostalgia

Really says it all. Another Mock Trial season, and the last one of my high school career, over. Second in county - we were a bit disappointed, but it's pretty impressive considering how many people we lost last year. Personal awards = Judge's Choice Honorable Mention + Outstanding Direct Examination Attorney. =] Pretty awesome considering this was my first year as an attorney!

I completely bombed the calc test today. Horrible. Almost certain I got a C or lower...

*****

Life seems to be going so fast... I really just want it to slow down. Take time to spend with friends, chill in my bed and do nothing, watch movies, explore the world, bike random places just because I can... It's so sad to think that in about half a year, I'll be off to college - possibly across the country - to meet new people and in a sense, start a new life. When am I going to see all of my guardies again? Mock Trial people? Are we ever having a COSMOS reunion? Will I still talk to/see/hang out with Clarie, Courtney, Ross, Robyn? What's life going to be like away from home?

It's really amazing to look back and remember when my sister was in high school...

Teehee

Wow, I haven't posted in a while. Ah well.

In any case, life was been pretty swell (aha, swell) these past few days. Finals for Mock Trial went well - a bit shaky, but we'll see tomorrow.

Speaking of which, Regents interview tomorrow! Sort of nervous, but it shouldn't be too bad. xD I'm just worried about making a fool of myself. And since I wrote an essay on handshakes, mine better be good. =P

I've really been enjoying senior year. It's probably just the mindset ("The mind is a place of its own") since I still get a crapton of homework and am pretty busy like, all the time. But it's been fun. I definitely enjoy my classes more, hang out with people more...

It's been happy. No real reason I suppose, but who needs one when the product is happiness? =]